EXPOS GET ANOTHER CHANCE

Instead, the ball club got a six-day reprieve, during which it will have to either accept conditions it has steadfastly deemed unacceptable or find another place to train its baseball players.

That would leave the Atlanta Braves as the county's only spring training franchise.

Weary of watching negotiations to build a $25 million spring training complex for the Expos and the Braves drag out for months, commissioners said they were inclined to cut the project back rather than see it delayed any further.

Besides, paring the stadium would mean a $10 million savings, which the county could use toward one of the other projects it is juggling, including a $62 million convention center, or possibly an arena.

And it seemed easiest for commissioners to choose the Expos, whom they identified as the prime reason for the recent snags in talks between the teams and county officials.

The sticking points left to be worked out: Neither team has agreed to pick up the remaining share of operating and maintenance costs if one of the teams backs out of the 20-year lease, and neither has opted to absorb cost overruns if the construction tab tops $25 million.

Assistant County Administrator Alan Tarlow, who has been representing the county in negotiations, said that while the Expos have not been willing to budge on either issue, the Braves seem more inclined to compromise.

"If this is a deal-breaker, the deal needs to be broken," said County Commissioner Mary McCarty, making a motion to drop the agreement with the Expos and pursue a one-team plan with the Braves.

"Let's stop playing games," she said. "The only way to do this by January is to do it with one team."

Commissioners agreed Atlanta was the favorite because it was the most financially stable, the Braves were part of the original plans for a $15 million stadium before the Expos got involved and, McCarty said, the Braves are the 1995 World Series champ.

"As much as I would regret having only one team and not having the Montreal Expos, I would have to act on the best interests of the people in Palm Beach County and on the best interests of this board," Commission Chairman Ken Foster said. "I have more confidence in the Atlanta Braves."

But talk of deal-breaking and snags was lost on Expos officials, who said Tuesday's discussion came out of left field.

"I think it caught everyone by surprise that the county commissioners thought we were so far from a deal," said Rob Rabenecker, general manager for the Expos' West Palm Beach operations. He said the teams thought they were inches away from signing a deal.

Rabenecker's presence at Tuesday's meeting saved his team from being excluded. Just as Foster called for a vote on cutting the Expos out, Rabenecker stepped forward and asked commissioners to give his team another crack at negotiations.

"I'd walk away from here sick to my stomach knowing that we were that close," he said.

Commissioners set a "drop-dead date" of noon on Monday, saying that if either the Braves or the Expos balk at the conditions the county was seeking on a two-team deal, the project would drop to a one-team stadium with the Braves getting first preference.

"We've still got a window of opportunity to make it happen," Rabenecker said. "I still feel like something is going to get done."